In an unexpected twist amid the HYBE vs. Min Hee Jin controversy, BTS’s Jungkook shocked the K-pop fan community after acting as a source of strength for the Newseen members.
On September 14, the youngest BTS member expressed his support for the girl group through an Instagram account dedicated to his dog, Bam. “The artists are not to blame,” he captioned the post while sharing a new photo of Bam. His words alone did the trick, creating an uncontrollable frenzy among netizens who couldn’t possibly look away from the other symbolic mentions that accompanied the text. Jungkook’s Instagram caption included five heart emojis and a bent bicep emoticon.
The colorful heart emojis are lined up in an interesting chronological order, which is commonly used by Newsines members to represent themselves. And so, fans quickly came to an interpretive conclusion that the ‘Golden’ album-maker was “standing next” to the young artists who share the same banner (ADOR) of the giant multi-label company HYBE, which initially began its operations under the name of BIGHIT Entertainment – the home of BTS.
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Debate erupts after Jungkook’s post addressing the status of Newseens
While some considered this meaningful gesture a reason for applause, others believed that Jungkook’s SNS was hacked by Newsenes fans (bunnies).
One fan commented: “Jungkook has been in the industry since he was 13. If there’s anyone to support young artistes it’s him.”
Many others refuted the claims, saying that BTS members rarely type English captions for their posts. “This might have been hacked by rabbits. The number of emojis and the English captions seem wrong.”
A few hours later, another Bam photo was posted on the same profile with the caption: “Don’t use them”, possibly again alluding to Newseen being caught up in the feud between the South Korean multinational entertainment company and Min Hee Jin, who had to step down from her CEO position at ADOR following a controversial legal battle with HYBE.
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Jungkook’s agency confirms his stance while fans say his account was hacked
Many BTS fans alleged that Jungkook’s account was hacked. However, others balanced the debate by saying that the pop star could not have voiced his support for the girl group on Weverse because HYBE staff frequently monitor that fan platform and can delete posts against his will. To this, the person said in a lengthy explanation that he specifically turned to Bam’s Instagram page to post these comments because HYBE staff would not have direct access to him. “If he was ‘hacked’ he would have made it clear by now that it’s been 5 hours. Respect Jungkook, he has a right to his own opinion!!,” the netizen said.
Like those defending Jungkook’s move, BigHit Music also released an official statement addressing the matter. Talking about the “alleged” SNS post on Bam’s profile, the company said, “We confirmed (with Jungkook) that this post was made with the idea that young artists should not be dragged into controversies and should not be used as a shield in any case,” according to a South Korean media report.
